


A Familiar Heartbeat

by SenkromeRights



Category: Dr. STONE (Manga)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Modern Era, Time Travel, short and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:46:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,867
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21870010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SenkromeRights/pseuds/SenkromeRights
Summary: When the submarine resurfaces for repairs and restock, Ukyo finds a boy his ears are familiar with. Though he has never met him before, Ukyo found himself falling for Chrome
Relationships: Chrome/Saionji Ukyou
Comments: 11
Kudos: 88





	A Familiar Heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> Short and sweet! Also, I don’t know the complete technicalities of the device, I’m sorry. It may seem a bit rushed too but I was aiming for 1000-2000 words.
> 
> Apologies if it’s not satisfying but please enjoy my first published work

A Familiar Heartbeat

The submarine had resurfaced by the dock for some minor repairs and restock, the soldiers in blue uniform stationed around in waiting or packing to head to their homes for a few days. Most had already disappeared from the site, but a white-haired, turquoise-eyed man stood isolated, listening to the waves crash against the docks. The swishing and swooshing of the soft waves drowned out all the other noises he could hear. Days and weeks under the ocean surface, constantly listening to the usual silence that surrounded the submarine, had made his ears extremely sensitive and attuned to the bustling life that awaited on dry land. 

Sometimes, if he focused, he could almost hear the heartbeats of the people around him, beating all at once. Different people had different heartbeats, they all told of their emotions and feelings. When communicating with people, Ukyo often tried to get a glimpse of their feelings by briefly listening to their heartbeat. He never thought it’d be so useful, but it had gotten him out of many troubling situations.

Ukyo glanced up from his gaze on the floor, looking around at the other men and women left to leave. Sighing through his nose, he was just about to focus on their heartbeats before the alarm sounded of an intruder. Ukyo’s head snapped up as security rushed around to find the intruder. The sonar man’s eyes brightened in realisation, thinking that if the intruder were truly here, they’d have a panicked heartbeat. So, closing his eyes, Ukyo focused on the heartbeats, searching for that one panicked heart. 

His turquoise eyes shot open, his own heart pounding in his ears as a cosy warmth filled his body. It was a heartbeat he’d heard before. No, he couldn’t have. It was a new heartbeat, but it was so familiar. Ukyo barely visited his family, but this heartbeat screamed of home. It made him feel so calm and safe and absolutely loved. 

In the blink of an eye, Ukyo’s legs were moving, sprinting around and searching for that one special heartbeat. The other employees were too preoccupied with finding the same person. He had to find him before they did, otherwise he wouldn’t be able to talk to him at all.

“Where are you?” Ukyo whispered to himself, stopping shortly to listen. For once in his life, one heartbeat pounded louder than the rest. For once, the other heartbeats faded to the background, faint as this familiar heartbeat outshone the rest. Frantic panting quickly caught his attention and he whipped around to come face to face with a boy not that much shorter than Ukyo. A rope kept his hair up and spiky, his brown eyes fearfully staring back into Ukyo’s own turquoise ones. The taller man quickly noted the simple blue clothing he wore, especially the weirdly shaped shoes he wore. Ukyo raised an eyebrow at the boy, but one step back from the intruder had Ukyo’s eyes widening in alarm. “Wait-” 

“I think he went this way!” shouted a distant voice, coming from behind the blue-clad boy. Taking advantage of the boy’s averted attention, Ukyo surged forward and grabbed his wrist, pulling him around the side of the building.

“Hey!” the boy exclaimed. Ukyo quickly clamped his mouth shut with his hand and when the boy stared back at Ukyo curiously, he brought a finger up to his lips to tell the boy to be quiet. The boy in Ukyo’s arms tensed when he heard the previous voices get louder, running into the area he and Ukyo were formerly at until a few seconds ago. 

“Dammit, where the hell did he go?” 

“Follow me and try be as quiet as you can. I know a place you can stay relatively hidden,” Ukyo whispered, slowly letting go of the boy. “I’m Ukyo, by the way.”

“Ukyo??” the other whisper-shouted in surprise. When the sonar operator gave him a questioning gaze, the boy hesitantly introduced, “Chrome…” 

“This way,” Ukyo said before guiding Chrome through the small passage between the two buildings, towards the back streets. The brunet followed closely behind, the two of them glancing around cautiously. Before long, the security alarms died down, the frantic shouting of the guards fading into the background. Ukyo continued to lead Chrome through the docks until they reached the crate area. Chrome checked around the side of the crate they stopped behind, looking to see if they’d been followed, whilst Ukyo simply stared at the boy’s back, his ears ringing with his heartbeat. “Who are you?” Ukyo wondered, the boy looking over his shoulder to raise an eyebrow at him.

“I told you my name’s Chrome.”

“No-yes, I know, but what I meant was…who…where are you from?” Ukyo tried.

“Do you not recognise me?” Chrome asked.

Ukyo blinked twice in surprise and confusion. “What?”

“We were literally together until…all of this happened,” Chrome explained, gesturing to the environment around them. “Your clothes changed, though…”

“I can assure you, I’ve never met you prior to today.”

This time, Chrome blinked in confusion. “That’s…weird.”

“Well, what happened before…‘all this happened’?” Ukyo questioned.

“Um…we were exploring the grounds of Japan while Senku, Kohaku and Ryusui were flying on the hot air balloon, but we ran into some weird item on the ground.”

“Weird item?”

“It was shiny and silver but when I went to pick it up, it shone brighter and I couldn’t see for a while. Then, I ended up here.” Ukyo tilted his head slightly in confusion, questions running through his head. First and foremost being if Chrome still had the item and the other being who the people he mentioned were. Though he’d never heard of them before, he couldn’t help but to feel another sense of familiarity, like he had already spent a decent amount of time with them. 

Taking a deep breath, Ukyo opted for the former question first. “Do you still have the item?” Chrome nodded and pulled it out of one of his satchels. It was indeed shiny, a technology that was advanced even for the modern world Ukyo knew. “Hey, Chrome, just wondering…what year is it where you’re from?” 

“5739.” The number had Ukyo choking on air, taking a step back at how far into the future that was. 

“5739??” Ukyo echoed incredulously. “That’s 3000 years later, there’s no way we would’ve been together. Maybe it was my descendent or something.”

“No, it was definitely you!” Chrome exclaimed, clamping his hands down on Ukyo’s shoulders. “I’ve watched you enough to know it’s you and not a descendent!” Once the words left his mouth, Chrome’s cheeks warmed into a rosy pink blush, but he ignored it and cleared his throat, letting go of Ukyo’s shoulders. “Can you maybe…help me get back? What year is it here?”

Ukyo’s cheeks were also a light shade of pink, though he responded calmly, “2019. Don’t worry, I’ll help you with that device. It shouldn’t be that hard…”

~

The two returned to Ukyo’s apartment, a place he occassionally stayed at when the sub was undergoing restock and repairs. The placed the hand-sized device on the table, then they both stared at the stationary object, at a loss at where to start. 

“I don’t suppose you-”

“Know? No, I don’t,” Ukyo muttered.

“There has to be something…” Chrome mumbled, placing a hand on his chin in thought. Ukyo glanced over at Chrome’s expression and for a moment, the soldier thought that he looked cute. The way Chrome looked so deep in thought, the way his nose scrunched up as his eyes narrowed in concentration had Ukyo’s heart beating louder than before. He hadn’t realised he was staring until Chrome’s eyes glanced over, his eyes meeting Ukyo’s. The latter was quick to avert his gaze, his face burning at the realisation that he’d been caught. 

“Wh-Why don’t we start with testing the buttons?” Ukyo suggested.

“That’s risky. It might trigger another time leap.”

“What if we use items as test subjects?”

“Then we won’t know if the test was a success or not.” Ukyo looked back up at Chrome and paused, his mind racing through different experiments they could do. Eventually, he sighed deeply and dropped his head, his mind aching at all the thinking he was doing. Ukyo desperately wanted to help Chrome, who claims to be future him’s friend, but he was a sonar operator, not a scientist. 

“Don’t worry, Ukyo, will figure this out,” Chrome reassured, placing a hand on the other’s shoulder. Ukyo peeked up from below his hat, marvelling at the bright smile Chrome offered him. How could such a boy be so beautiful? Shaking the thoughts from his head, Ukyo returned Chrome’s smile with his own.

“You’re right. Let’s figure this out.”

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


The next few nights were spent figuring out how to alter the device without triggering it, and also getting to know each other better. Ukyo found that he loved cooking for Chrome; have it be instant ramen or curry, he loved seeing Chrome’s face light up as if he’d just eaten a dish from a five-star restaurant. In return, Chrome helped heaps with cleaning up, trying to make up for Ukyo’s kindness by doing what he could. 

Though, these were only during the breaks. Every other time, Chrome and Ukyo would be found tinkering with the device, figuring out how it worked. Until today, where they were able to get the screen to flash with the numbers: ‘05-20-5739’. 

Ukyo and Chrome shared a victorious look, huge grins spread across both their faces at their success. Without warning, Chrome embraced Ukyo tightly, the latter hesitating only for a moment before he returned the hug with a chuckle.

“Nice going, Chrome! You did amazing!” Ukyo praised.

“I couldn’t have done it without you!” Chrome objected, pulling back slightly so he could look up at Ukyo’s shining turquoise orbs. Chrome blinked a few times. Had Ukyo always looked this beautiful? His eyes were so soft…and calm, like the silent sea after a storm. Chrome had never felt this safe.

“Chrome?” Ukyo whispered ever so quietly.

“I’ll miss you, Ukyo,” Chrome mumbled, but Ukyo let out an airy laugh.

“You’ll see me when you go back, don’t worry.” Chrome frowned and finally pulled away from Ukyo, whilst Ukyo found himself craving Chrome’s warmth again. The scientist carefully picked up the device, examining it in his hand, before looking back at Ukyo. “Stay safe in the future, ok?” 

“You too,” Chrome replied with a small smile. Ukyo nodded and stepped back, waving slightly as he got ready for Chrome to leave. However, instead of immediately pushing the button, Chrome surged forward, planting a kiss on Ukyo’s lips. The surprise was more than evident on his face; his eyes wide but the electricity flowing through his veins not unwelcome. Ukyo barely had time to reciprocate the kiss before Chrome clicked the button. Within seconds, the brunet was gone, and Ukyo was pressing his lips against air. 

Ukyo felt his chest tighten, already missing the bright smile Chrome gave him. That familiar heartbeat he’d have to wait for, for the next 3000 years.

“I’ll wait. My familiar heartbeat.”


End file.
